On Sat, 28 Dec 2002, Doug Pensinger wrote: > > You guys sound like a tryst of old men sitting around a pickle barrel > thinking of ways to injure skateboarders. Do you know anyone that > commutes on mass transit that has to wait 10-15 minutes for a bus to > take them the last mile or two? Do you know any older people that have > trouble getting around and are thus limited as to where they can go? Do > you know anyone that lives less than five miles from work and drives a > behemoth vehicle that can seat eight and gets 15 mpg or less? Or are > you just afraid of new tech?
Sorry, Doug. I don't mean to be a sourpuss (except when it serves my agenda of gratuitous humorous overkill) but I do know lots of people who meet the description you give, and I can't think of any who would be safe (to themselves or others) on a Segway. I don't know any who would be able to muscle the 80 + lb. machine up the stairs of a bus, say, and then down again. If our GOAL is to improve transportation for the mobility impaired, the Segway doesn't strike me as the obvious choice. Now, maybe the Segway will be rare enough and nimble enough that it doesn't cause many problems. And I can see that it might be very useful on, say, a corporate campus or in a large warehouse or on a lightly trafficked sidewalk. (But back when I worked inventory in a large warehouse, my little used bicycle did a very fine job for me). The technology is certainly cool...but as others have said, the only people I can imagine using it at this point are the rude-driving, cell-phone yakking, SUV set. Marvin Long Austin, Texas Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Poindexter & Ashcroft, LLP (Formerly the USA) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
